httpd-dev mailing list archives

On Thu, 18 Jul 1996, Randy Terbush wrote:
> I'm playing with a format that would be as follows:
>
> conf/ <-- toplevel config "database"
> .htconfig <-- contains and global config info
> /www.someserver1.com/ <-- each of directories contain Vhost info
> /www.someserver2.com/ <-- the docroot directory structure would
> /www.someserver3.com/ <-- be mirrored _only_ where there were .htacces
>
> You would only need to parse the tree at startup and SIGHUP.
> It would be very easy to have a separate daemon watching the
> conf/ for changes and sending a SIGHUP when needed. The conf/
> could even be a DBM format file, however I prefer the idea
> of leaving it accessible by basic system tools like 'vi'.
> Hell, I could even imagine an Emacs mode for configuring the
> server! :-)
*shudder* Imagine a site with a couple thousand people with their own
web pages. Now imagine having 5 of those people actively changing their
configuration items for their directories... Now imagine the server
HUPing every time.
Also how are you going to monitor the directory for changes? Have a
process continually look at the time stamps for any configuration file
in the tree? I'm only a bit confused.
For large systems either .htaccess or a similar technique is the best
thing to do since it allows the individual to modify his/her access
perms with ease.
Michael Douglass
Texas Networking, Inc.
"To be a saint is to be an exception; to be a true man is the rule.
Err, fail, sin if you must, but be upright. To sin as little as
possible is the law for men; to sin not at all is a dream for angels."
- Victor Hugo, "Les Miserables"